UK tourist attractions say hooray for Hollywood

Hit movie Alice in Wonderland was filmed at Antony House in Cornwall, which has seen visitor numbers quadruple. Photograph: National Trust

Britain's leading tourist attractions have reported an increase in visitor numbers over the past year, with many reaping the benefits of appearing as the backdrop to a Hollywood blockbuster.

Figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions demonstrate the dramatic impact of being used in a successful film. After appearing in Tim Burton's film version of Alice in Wonderland, Antony House, the National Trust-run 18th century Cornish mansion, saw visitor numbers quadruple from 25,000 to nearly 100,000 last summer.

"Last summer was a massive year for the trust for films," said spokeswoman Laura Appleby. "It was used for really big, high-profile films. We have provided the setting for more major movie hits than ever before."

On average, three trust properties were being used by film companies on any given day last year, generating £5.5m for the charity. Among other films using its settings were Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was filmed at three of its locations: Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire; Freshwater West in Pembrokeshire and Lavenham Guildhall in Suffolk, and Never Let Me Go, which was filmed at Ham House in Richmond upon Thames.

This spring, the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich is hoping to benefit from the release of a new Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, On Stranger Tides, after the cast and crew spent six weeks filming there in October. Chief executive Duncan Wilson said: "They had 400 extras, 40 horses and the same number of vehicles filming on College Way and in the Painted Hall. I showed Johnny Depp around the hall and was able to tell him it was finished using pirate money from Captain Kidd's treasure." Visitors to the college increased by 28% last year, to more than 1.27m, even without the film.

The British Museum topped the list for the fourth year running, with visitor numbers up nearly 5% to 5.84m, apparently boosted by director Neil MacGregor's BBC Radio 4 series A History of the World in 100 Objects.

The Natural History Museum seems also to have benefited – up 13% to 4.64m visitors – following BBC2's Museum of Life series. However, Sissinghurst in Kent, former home of Vita Sackville-West, seems to have bucked the trend: its numbers last year were down 21% – blamed on bad Easter weather. Tate Modern was the second most popular attraction in Britain with 5.06m visitors last year, up 7%, followed by the National Gallery, with 4.9m visitors, up 4.7%.

Overall visitor numbers were slightly up in 2010, though not as dramatically as the previous year when the weak pound and the decision of many recession-wary Britons to holiday at home saw a 10% increase.

The association, which represents organisations ranging from the National Trust and English Heritage to individual attractions such as Windsor Castle and Canterbury Cathedral, said that just over half its attractions had registered increases, despite bad weather and disruptions such as that caused by the Icelandic volcanic eruption in April.

• This article was corrected on Wednesday 23 February 2011. Visitor numbers to the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich were up by 28%, not 13%.

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